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Starry Sky in Bustling Mining Town Takes Top Art AwardFriday, August 09, 2019

A banner portraying the peaceful and quiet façade of a bustling mining town has taken out the top award in a community art competition.

46 Local Governments entered the #shoWcAse in Pixels competition run by the WA Local Government Association as part of its annual Convention at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre.

One of the State’s largest ongoing arts projects, the #shoWcASe in Pixels competition was formerly known as Banners in the Terrace. The format has changed this year as banner poles in the city were further reduced in number – the artworks are digitally displayed at the Yagan Square 45-metre high tower screen.

WALGA Chief Executive Officer Nick Sloan said the artworks illustrate the vast range of landscapes and lifestyles across this great State.

“The submissions highlight the collaborative efforts of each community that spent countless hours creating their artworks, showcasing an incredible level of creativity and artistic standards,” he said.

The winning banner from Shire of Meekatharra portrays the silence and peacefulness of an amazing nightscape while highlighting the closeness of family, Mr Sloan said.

“This is a side of Meekatharra that is not commonly perceived – we reflect on the Shire as a bustling mining area in the day. But this group of young artists from Meekatharra Shire Youth Services Team, aged between 4 and 17, instead interpreted the theme Renewal and Practical through the night skies of Meekatharra,” he said.

“The execution and details highlight the peaceful serenity of the evening, a star-filled night sky while learning about the country’s natural history from their family.

“The judges say that this piece is extraordinarily beautiful and it drew a deep gut reaction from them.”

The #shoWcAse in Pixels competition has categories open to primary and secondary schools, community groups and professional artists.

The competition winners were announced at the 2019 WA Local Government Convention and Exhibition, which attracts more than 600 Local Government representatives and over 100 suppliers to the sector.

The artworks will be displayed on the digital screen tower of Yagan Square until Sunday, 11 August.

Background Information
The winners of the 2019 #shoWcAse in Pixels are:

• Junior Primary School - Shire of Ashburton

“The Year 2 students of Tom Price Primary School have done an incredibly impressive job to create this amazing piece of artwork. They looked at the theme Practical Renewal through the eyes of the people who have inhabited and continue to inhabit Gurrama Country. The bold colours work well – especially the colour of red dirt against the blue sky. It truly brings the viewer on a journey through the eyes of the eight-year-old artists,” WALGA CEO Nick Sloan said.

• Upper Primary School - Shire of Broomehill-Tambellup

"This artwork by the Upper Primary students of Tambellup Primary School took the top prize in this category through its clever interpretation of the theme and the competition.
This mosaic has been created by collecting plastic bottle lids – the primary school involved the entire community to help collect these lids and through this, learnt about the concept of recycling and re-using items that would have been otherwise thrown away.
Their interpretation of Renewal Practical was about cycles and how it affects their farming community. The six Noongar seasons are depicted through the tree.
There are two black swans with cygnets, to illustrate the swans returning to Gordon River, which runs through their Shire, to have their babies each year.
This is also a very clever interpretation of the competition title showcase in Pixels – where they have used round bottle lids to illustrate the pixels. It showed up great on the digital screen tower of Yagan Square with its bright colours,” WALGA CEO Nick Sloan said.

• Secondary School and Overall Winner- Shire of Meekatharra

• Community Group - Shire of Corrigin

"This piece was created by Val Whiting, a grandmother of two who is a member of the craft group in the Shire. Val is usually a pencil artist and this is the first time she has created an artwork using acrylic paint in this large-scale format.
The judges felt that the composition illustrates everything that is representative of the Shire of Corrigin – the windmill, which is part of the Shire’s logo, the agriculture, the local attractions, the colours of our sporting clubs and even the crops, which are canola, wheat and field reserves.
The gold and black colours, representative of their local sporting club, and the composition showed up really well on the digital screen tower of Yagan Square,” WALGA CEO Nick Sloan said.

• Professional/Digital – City of Cockburn

The judges find this piece whimsical. It certainly catches your attention when displayed on the digital screen tower and make you think of Cockburn as a family-friendly place with a network of wetlands as illustrated in the composition through dunes and coastal beaches.
One of the judges commented that it makes her want to visit Cockburn, to see the wetlands and the adorable dogs,” WALGA CEO Nick Sloan said.

High commendations were awarded to Shire of Kojonup and Shire of Denmark.